Fishers Island has both native and non-native praying mantises. It is important to know the difference. The above Carolina praying mantis is native.
Brown-headed cowbirds lay their speckled eggs in the nests of other birds, who raise those hatchlings at the expense of their own young.
FIConservancy President Tom Sargent addresses a crowd at “Sunset on the Beach” 2019. This popular event has been postponed until 2021 in the interest of the health and safety of the Fishers Island community during this pandemic.
Dear Fellow Fishers Islander,
As I watch Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks and Kestrels hover over beaches and meadows, I am reassured that once again, the fanfare of spring has arrived, transforming our island into a glorious oasis. The Fishers Island Conservancy (FIConservancy) has been an important partner in sustaining and enhancing this delicate ecosystem with ongoing stewardship and oversight. As we celebrate 35 years of supporting the island, we find ourselves facing unforeseen challenges that require a new approach to outreach and planning.
Our primary concern is the safety and welfare of the entire Fishers Island community. With that in mind, we have canceled “Sunset on the Beach” for 2020. This will significantly impact our fundraising goals. But we are already looking forward to July 17, 2021, when we will continue this great and much-anticipated tradition. We remain committed to providing family-centered (and socially distanced) events as we move through the summer, including Nature Days in August and a showing of the movie Big Little Farm.
Our ongoing projects continue at full throttle, such as this year’s Audubon-structured migratory bird count May 2, when we happily counted 44 different species, despite our masks and gloves. Also, our partnership with FIDCO is on track as we renew badly-damaged micro-environments at targeted spots around the island.
Other active FIConservancy initiatives include guiding students in our Island Sentinels program, partnering with off-island organizations to lobby for environmental best practices, sponsoring the pump out boat in West Harbor, and allocating grants, one of which recently led a Fishers Island School student to first place in a prestigious science fair.
One aspect of life that COVID-19 can’t change is the magnificent beauty this island affords its residents. It’s more important than ever to take time to appreciate the enduring gifts that nature bestows on this small corner of the world. Take a moment to stroll through the Parade Grounds during a summer sunset or sit in the John Thatcher Native Garden (formerly the Demonstration Garden) and watch the local birds take wing. We will be providing socially distanced picnic tables beneath the black gum trees to enhance your enjoyment.
Please know that FIConservancy is still working hard to sustain and enhance our island’s natural resources, even though we are battling a significant reduction in our fundraising dollars. We deeply appreciate any donations you can give to help cover the shortfall due to the loss of “Sunset On the Beach.” A donation to the FIConservancy is a donation to Fishers Island.
Many thanks and please stay safe and healthy.
Cheers
Tom
Thomas A. Sargent
President
Fishers Island Conservancy
In keeping with efforts to maintain social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, FIConservancy has widened all paths in the Parade Grounds to six feet. Tom Sargent Photo
First sighting of breeding American woodcock on Fishers Island in many years. Kyle Kibbe Photo
The American woodcock is neither endangered nor globally threatened. Island residents have reported seeing woodcocks in the Parade Grounds, and its song was documented in the Parade Grounds during the 2018 spring migration.
The exciting news, however, is that this is the first example of a breeding pair on Fishers Island for some time. These birds were spotted April 11 near South Beach. They have clearly benefited from ongoing grassland restoration in the Parade Grounds, Elizabeth Airport, Race Point and South Beach.
Although classified with sandpipers as shorebirds, American woodcock spend most of their time hidden in fields and on the forest floor probing for earthworms where the soil is moist.
The population of the American woodcock has fallen by an average of slightly more than 1% annually since the 1960s. Most authorities attribute this decline to a loss of habitat caused by forest maturation and urban development.
There are many colorful folk names for the American woodcock. These include timberdoodle, bogsucker, night partridge, brush snipe, hokumpoke, twitterpate, little gomer, fiddle squeak, worm sabre, wafflebird, bumblebee chicken, mud needle, prairie turtle, and crazy straw.
Garlic mustard invasive plant. Tom Sargent Photo
Fishers Island is awash in mustard garlic. This plant is a tenacious invasive weed that exudes a chemical through its roots that inhibits native plants from growing. The flowers are self-fertile and rarely wilt without producing a hoard of seeds.
“This stuff IS ALL OVER the Island. It is really easy to pull up and bag. It’s up to individual property owners to do their best to pull this weed before seed pods develop. Each plant produces 600 seeds that remain viable in the soil for five years or more,” said FIConservancy President Tom Sargent.
“Folks can even weed while taking a walk, although it’s hard for me to take a walk, because I am always stopping, pulling and bagging!”
Mustard garlic was brought to North America by early European settlers to use as medicine and food.
Nesting mute swans in late April near 4th hole at the Fishers Island Club golf course. Meredith Doyen Photo
It’s hard to resist the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, when an ugly duckling grows into the most beautiful swan in the pond.
Unfortunately, New York State’s largest bird can be aggressive to humans, and their voracious appetites often disturb local ecosystems, displacing native species.
Mute swans eat up to eight pounds of submerged aquatic vegetation, including eelgrass, daily. They sometimes completely uproot plants, and often, adult swans will uproot more plants than they actually consume.
Mute swans are not native to North America. They are descendants of swans brought to this country in the late 1800s through early 1900s to adorn large estates, city parks and zoos. They are now a “prohibited” invasive species, which prohibits the sale, importation, transport or introduction of this species in New York State.
Swan family spotted May 22 at South Beach Pond. Marlen Bloethe Photo
April 30, 2020
The Fishers Island Conservancy remains cautiously optimistic that some form of an enjoyable summer experience awaits us. So the Parade Ground paths will remain open and accessible as long as folks respect the social distancing guidelines outlined by the State of N.Y. Please keep six feet apart and use the merges to pass when going in opposite directions. All dogs MUST be leashed and they too should be kept at a distance of six feet from unrelated persons. As always, please clean up after your pets.
Also the Thatcher Demonstration Garden is open and remains a pleasant place for reflection. The spring bird migration is in full swing and the Garden is popular stop off point for our migrating avian friends.
At this point, our programming schedule is only tentative. Please stay tuned for further information about Nature Days and potential speakers and children’s programming.
Please note that the Conservancy’s Spring Migration Count will be held Sunday, May 3rd at 9 am. As always, we will meet at the Community Center, only this time only one quarantined family per vehicle. Please bring masks and gloves and your own binoculars. While we are all social distancing for safety’s sake, nature carries on like has done so for thousands of years. Fun to watch.
Be well and be safe.
Cheers,
Tom Sargent
President
Fishers Island Conservancy
Adult harp seal, apparently injured, rests at the Race. In photo below, Race Rock Lighthouse in background gives perspective to first sighting of beached seal. Stephanie Hall Photo
This adult harp seal beached itself in high winds at the Race April 21. Stephanie Hall, monitoring the shoreline for FIConservancy, saw the seal and what appeared to be blood near its fin.
The first call is usually to Mystic Aquarium, but its rescue service has been suspended due to Covid-19. Not giving up, Stephanie’s next call was to the U.S. Coast Guard station in New London, which led her to Mystic Aquarium’s veterinarian, and then to The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation in Riverhead, N.Y.
The seal had returned to the water but then beached itself again near the end of the Elizabeth Field runway.
After viewing photos and a video that Stephanie sent to the Riverhead Foundation, Jill at the Foundation offered positive news: “Its injury doesn’t seem too concerning, and the video showed that he is resting comfortably. Hopefully, he will rest and be able to move on once the weather improves.”
Stephanie checked the next morning and the seal was gone.
In the age of COVID-19, social distancing works. But painted turtles, the most widespread native turtles in North America, have no such concern. This group gathered April 15 to bask in the sun on the pond near H.L. Ferguson Museum. (sent as email blast 4/17/20) Marlen Bloethe Photo